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IMC 2011: Sessions

Session 229: 14th-Century Studies, II: Communicating with the Crown

Monday 11 July 2011, 14.15-15.45

Sponsor:Society for 14th-Century Studies
Organiser:Gwilym Dodd, Department of History, University of Nottingham
Moderator/Chair:W. Mark Ormrod, Centre for Medieval Studies, University of York
Paper 229-aPerceptions of Royal Governance and Westminster in 14th-Century England
(Language: English)
Helen Lacey, Mansfield College, University of Oxford
Index terms: Law, Politics and Diplomacy
Paper 229-bLiterary Devices and Late 14th-Century Governmental Texts
(Language: English)
Rebecca Fields McNamara, Exeter College, University of Oxford
Index terms: Language and Literature - Middle English, Language and Literature - Latin, Law, Politics and Diplomacy
Abstract

These papers explore the ways in which subjects of 14th-century English kings interacted with the crown. The papers adopt a 'bottom up' approach by considering what impression government made on the 'ordinary' people of the 14th century. The first paper argues that manifestations of violence expressed coherent and meaningful messages of dissent to the crown, in a 'language' which the crown itself understood and acted upon. The second paper explores the identity of Westminster in the medieval mind, as the hub of central government and the focus of royal authority. And the third analyses the discourse of government and the transference of language across literary and government texts.